Thoughts on the Believe ship so far?

I'm wondering if i should wait to book until after my February Boulder ridge stay, in case Disney puts out another deluxe to dcl bounce back offer?

I don't know about booking. Generally the first year of a ship creates so much buzz, the prices are high. But you're right about general disappointment in this ship. If you haven't been on a DCL, maybe consider the Wish? It can be had for relatively low prices now (we went in 2023 and I'm ashamed of what I paid). We definitely want to go again.

Thanks for the suggestion! Ill also look into the other ships with the cheaper itineraries. The dream looked good too for the price

Before you book, get with a travel agent. many can get you an onboard credit. The cost will be the same with a TA vs booking yourself.

Yes the older ships are cheaper for the most part and for the Believe the January cruises are much cheaper than the December cruises. They really bank on people wanting to be first and they will make you pay for it.

I have a different perspective on using a TA. We've used a TA on 3 cruises. We ended up with problems on 2 of those 3, and we were unable to talk to Disney Cruise Line directly (because the TA "owned" the reservation). Our personal agency as a customer was removed because of the TA.

The first time, a hurricane cancelled our cruise. DCL offered a 25% Future Cruise credit, but everyone was scrambling to use it at the same time (so the algorithm was driving prices up as we waited for our TA to handle all her affected customers).

The second time, my husband had emergency surgery two days before our cruise. We could not get a hold of our TA for a full 24 hours while we panicked about notifying DCL. I did call DCL directly but they said they couldn't talk to me at all since the TA owned the reservation.

I'm all for supporting TAs, but with DCL in particular, I'll never place my control of a vacation in their hands again.

I tend to agree, I see no reason to use a travel agent, I am quite capable of making my reservation on my own. I know sometimes they offer extras but are they really that good? The one time I called a TA to book a cruise because they offered cruise credit for using their service, they would only give my $50 in cruise credit for that particular cruise. Did not strike me as worth the hassle.